I don’t think words
can explain how excited I was for Castle’s first Christmas themed episode and
it couldn't have come at a better time.
Not only did we get to see the loft all decorated (in only a way that
the Castle family can) and a new Holiday Castle intro, but we got to see the
very first Caskett Christmas! If this
episode didn't put you in the holiday spirit I don’t know what will, so let’s
get started with the Christmas Cliff Note countdown.
5.
Iron Gate’s Nemesis
Ok,
I am officially in love with Gates this season.
She is continuing to make me laugh while maintaining her kiss ass, yes
sir vibe. During the whole episode we
hear her complaining about her mother in law staying with her, and how she is
on a mission to make her feel inferior (hard to believe that’s possible). She offers advice to Ryan (really stressing
the staying at a hotel point) and even states she hates the holidays which
makes Castle compare her to the Grinch (oddly enough she was sporting green eye
shadow the whole time.. coincidence?). Continuing
with well placed comments, she catches Espo holding the lingerie Jenny sent
Ryan (“lets finish up this hoochie coochie thing and get on with it”) and she tells
Beckett that if she happens to receive a report of a homicide at her house
tonight she should just ignore it.
Honestly, the more I’m seeing this side of Gates the more I want to see
how she responds to finding out Castle and Beckett are an item (unless she
breaks them up of course…). How do you think she will respond now? Does she see their ability to maintain
professionalism or will she play by the rule book and break them up?


4. Blue Christmas
Castle’s
enthusiasm for the Christmas spirit was so infectious it was hard to believe
Beckett didn't seem to be as excited about it as he was. As an audience, we could sense her insecurity
about the whole thing when he was going on about his loft and said “wait till
you see my train set” and she responded with a cautious “yea…can’t wait.” Later, in a very playful tone, Castle says “I
was thinking tomorrow night perhaps we should have a Christmas movie marathon,
or some other kind of marathon that makes life wonderful…” Sounds good to Caskett shippers everywhere,
but from the look on Beckett’s face we can tell she doesn't share the same
mutual excitement and breaks the news to Castle that she can’t make it to the
loft to spend Christmas Eve with him because she has to work. She claims she couldn't get out of it because
she couldn't tell Gates they were together but Castle tells her he understands.
The look on Castle’s face when she told him she wouldn't be spending Christmas with
him was heartbreaking and it was truly like watching a child get excited about
a particular present and then not getting it.
To add insult to injury, Castle’s family appears to be bailing on him
too, but Alexis tells him he will be ok because he has Beckett. *sigh* We can only imagine what they would do
with an empty house on Christmas Eve at this point. I really liked this moment because I think it
reminded us that Beckett still has some of her walls and while Castle may be
breaking through some of them she still has secrets she doesn't want him to
know. Luckily for us we do get to find
out her secret and it made a later spot on the countdown.



3. Javi’s Holiday Woes
While
it seemed like everyone had Christmas plans (whether they like them or not… yea
I’m talking about you Gates!) Espositio was left all alone for the
holidays. First, he asked Ryan if they
were going to do their usual Madden video game playing while drinking a 6 pack
but Ryan declines stating that Jenny had plans (which we later find out
involved sexy Santa lingerie and trying for a baby). Next up, he visits Lanie in the morgue but
she already has plans and doesn't want them to be a sad desperate holiday hook
up. She does shed some light for
Esplanie fans though telling Esposito that after the holidays die down if he
still wants to get together to give her a call. Also, this has nothing to do
with Espo’s holiday plans but how hilarious was the scene where he was fighting
the Santa armed with a giant candy cane?!?!
And ending it with “Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight?” Perfect!
Ok back to the story… after convincing Ryan that he is ready to start a
family Javier decides to return the stolen clock back to Beth and he acquires
Christmas plans of his own when she invites him to eat dinner with her
family. I was so happy to see Javi get a
happy holiday ending and we all have renewed hope for Esplanie! Pretty successful episode if you ask me J


2. Breaking Down More Walls
Castle,
trying to continue spreading Christmas joy, decides to try and get Beckett off
having to work so he presents Gates with a gift to try and persuade her to take
Beckett off the schedule. Instead, she
informs him that Beckett volunteered to work the shift so another cop could be
home with his family. This reminded me
of Castle learning that Beckett remembered everything from the shooting (expect
on a much smaller scale of course) and they even started their discussion of
the whole thing with a general subtle conversation initially about people other
than themselves. Castle expressed that “sometimes
people do inexplicable thing,” but Beckett insists “there’s an explanation for
everything.” Castle reveals that he
knows she volunteered to take the holiday shift and seems offended telling her
that if she wasn't ready to spend Christmas with him she should just tell him. Beckett
apologizes and tells Castle that Christmas means something different to her
than it does to him. She even talks
about her mother’s case and how it was so close to Christmas and once her dad
put away the Christmas decorations they never came out again. So every year she has taken the Christmas
shift so that she can watch over families celebrating Christmas. Once again, Castle expresses his understanding
and it appears that we have slowly seen another wall come down. Like Castle said in Swan Song, Beckett has
many layers and I continue to love how we are “peeling” away at them to get to
her core. And how about how sweet and
understanding Castle was during this whole episode? If you would have asked me season one if he
was capable of this I would have laughed, but his character has developed so
much and become a better person because of his time at the 12th and
with Kate.

1. New
Traditions
If
you have been reading each week you know how much I love a happy ending, which is
why this secured a #1 spot on the last countdown of 2012. Castle gets his traditional Christmas Eve
dinner with Alexis and Martha and they both even cancel their plans to stay in
all night. Turns out Castle is the one
to break tradition and he states that there is somewhere he needs to be and
goes to leave but there is a surprise at his door. A surprised Kate Beckett is standing there (I’m
really starting to love the front door of the loft by the way… good things
happen there) and Castle tells her he was just coming to see her. Turns out Karpowski (who is my new favorite
cop) covered Beckett’s shift for her and she decided she should start a new
tradition. Castle expresses his
readiness to start a new tradition too and they share a sweet moment, kissing
in front of his beautiful Christmas tree.
Castle tells Beckett he didn't get her anything for Christmas (as she
insisted the whole episode) and Beckett quickly says “what??” We can assume
everything is ok though as they share another sweet moment in front of the tree. I was so excited to finally get a kiss after
the failed moment under the mistletoe, but I guess they were at work and have
to keep it professional. Well there you
have it, with a little Christmas magic our couple got to be together for the
holidays and we can assume they had a wonderful Christmas!


Such a fun episode to kick off the month of December and put
everyone in the holiday mood. What was
your favorite holiday moment and what do you think about everyone’s holiday plans? Join the discussion in the comments section
below or tweet us at @TwelfthPrecinct! We would love to hear from you (comments and
tweets are the best Christmas presents)!
Next week I’ll have a fun holiday Caskett activity to help ease our way
into the New Year and help us get through this hiatus but for now Happy
Holidays from Castle Cliff Notes!
All screencap credit to: Castle-fans.org
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